Sovereignship (Ship)
Description The Sovereignship is a powerful flagship which was designed and built by the arcane to the specifications provided to them by Emperor Domiak of Tyrranous. One of the conditions of the contract worked out between Domiak and the arcane was that for a period of 100 years after the construction of the first Sovereignship, the arcane would provide these vessels exclusively to the Empire of Tyrranous, and would keep the design plans secret. As a result, the Empire of Tyrranous is currently the only faction to use Sovereignships. Another condition of the contract with the arcane required Domiak to purchase at least 50 Sovereignship hulls over that 100 year period (other conditions included a requirement to purchase a certain number of major and minor helms, as well as other considerations), and in the 15 years since the first Sovereignship was built, the Empire of Tyrranous has purchased a total of 9 of these vessels. It should be noted that the first Sovereignship to be built, the Agressor, followed the same plans as her sister ships, but was constructed entirely from adamantite (provided by Domiak at great expense), and equipped with the finest and most magical equipment possible. Since building even one of these ships was a severe drain on the coffers of Tyrranous, it was never intended that the other Sovereignships would match the Agressor, which would instead serve as the flagship for the entire navy of Tyrranous. Despite this, the 8 other Sovereignships are still expensive, well-built ships which are equipped with much more magical equipment than most command ships in the spheres. At a minimum, each Sovereignship will be equipped with a Major Cloaking Helm of the most powerful variety (able to power 140 tons), a Pump Helm as a backup, Antennae of Triangulation, a Celestial Astrolabe, a Passage Device, a Portal Locator, a Planetary Locator, Mastheads of Durability, a Rudder of Speed (power varies from +1 to +3), Sails of Maneuverability (power varies from +1 to +3), a Sargasso Detector, Mage Shot (of various types), a Sounder (varies from Type I to Type IV), a Greater Vane of Location, a Pantry of Plenty, and all large ranged weapons will also be magical (power varies +1 to +3). The weaponry of a Sovereignship is intended to serve any needed purpose, depending on whether the ship intends to keep its distance from an enemy, or whether the ship intends to close for maximum destruction. As a result, each large weapon on board is equipped with a turret which allows for the greatest possible fields of fire, as well as providing protection for the weapon and its crew. The outrigger runners of the Sovereignship are equipped with large blades which are a part of the hull itself. These allow the vessel to attack enemy ships rigging and hulls in the same manner as the razors on board a scro Mantis. Both runners can be used simultaneously against a ship beneath the Sovereignship. A Sovereignship is capable of landing on land or on water, however without the outriggers for stability, a landing of any sort would be likely to result in the ship rolling onto its side. With the outriggers intact, a Sovereignship is actually fairly seaworthy, however if sailed on the water it is slow and clumsy at best. Crew The crew of a Sovereignship is the cream of the crop, with even the lowliest sailor being an individual who has proved himself to be both highly capable, and highly loyal to Tyrranous. Serving on any Sovereignship is seen as being one of the most prestigious assignments possible within the navy of Tyrranous, and it is not uncommon for officers to accept (and even request) demotions in order to serve on one of these vessels. As time goes on and more Tyrranous takes delivery of more Sovereignships, this trend is slowing somewhat, but their crews are still crack sailors, marines, and officers. A Sovereignship crew follows a rigid chain of command, such that everyone on board knows exactly where they stand within this chain of command. A Sovereignship will typically carry a full crew of 300 men, not including the crews of the carried Blades (see the Agressor for an example of the organization of the crew, although other Sovereignships will have crew of lower levels, and will not have zwarths). This is significantly more than the air envelope of the ship can handle, however the air is kept fresh by magic. Ship Uses Flagship: All Sovereignships are used as fleet flagships. Each of these vessels is in command of a fleet of dozens of medium and heavy combat vessels, as well as numerous support ships. As a result, a Sovereignship will typically be encountered with several smaller vessels, although it is unheard of for the entire fleet commanded by a Sovereignship to be assembled in one place at a time. Considered a combat flagship, the Sovereignship is expected to be able to destroy any enemies with ease, in addition to coordinating the ships under its command. To aid both of these roles, the Sovereignship has been designed to carry 40 Blades on top of and suspended beneath the 'wings' leading to the great vessel's outriggers. These Blades are equipped with Boat Helms and light catapults, and serve as fighter craft, scouts, and messengers. Doctrine calls for at least half of these Blades to be aboard the Sovereignship at all times in order to defend the ship if needed. At any given time, messenger and scout duties will see 5-20 Blades away from their mothership. Other Configurations Aside from differences in magical equipment, there are no other configurations for the strictly regulated Sovereignships.